UT MARTIN WOMENS hosts Southeast Missouri on Thursday

The University of Tennessee at Martin women’s basketball team continues its Ohio Valley Conference homestand against Southeast Missouri on Thursday, January 5th. Tipoff at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.

The Skyhawks (5-8, 1-1 OVC) open the 2023 calendar year with a three-game homestand after spending more than a month on the road. The team enjoyed its return to the friendly confines of the Elam Center with a 63-48 victory over Morehead State on New Year’s Eve. With the win, UT Martin improved its home record against OVC foes to 96-17 (84.9 winning percentage) since 2009.

Despite playing with a limited roster, UT Martin still had four players score in double figures in the win against Morehead State. Freshman Josie Storey paced the team with a career-high 15 points while recording four assists and four steals. Not far behind was the Preseason All-OVC tandem Seygan Robins and Shae Littleford each of whom scored 13 points and collected seven assists and seven steals. Fellow freshman Sharnecce Currie-Jelks also covered double figures in the 10’s scoring column^th 12 points and eight rebounds this season.

Training match between UT Martin Kevin McMillan and Southeast Missouri’s Rekha Patterson are the two longest-tenured coaches in the OVC. McMillan has a 257-168 career record in 14 seasons, while Patterson is 106-115 in eight campaigns. In that span, the Skyhawks have won six conference championships and four tournament titles, while the Redhawks won one tournament title in 2022.

Southeast Missouri (5-8, 0-2 OVC) is looking for its first league win of the season after dropping back-to-back games to Southern Indiana and SIUE last week. The Redhawks are led by Preseason All-OVC honoree Kennedi Watkins with 9.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. In the team’s most recent outing, Jaliyah Green (6.0 ppg, 2.6 rpg) scored a career-high 18 points to lead the team.

Thursday’s match is the 77th^th meeting between the two programs, UT Martin held the series 44-32. The Skyhawks have won four straight against the Redhawks and have won five straight at the Elam Center since 2017.

The game will be broadcast on ESPN+, while Chris Brinkley will do the local call on WCMT 1410 AM/100.5 FM. These links – along with the link to follow and live stats – can be found at the top of the webpage.